Josh Shapiro supporters at his election night
victory party on Nov. 8 in Montgomery County
Josh Shapiro supporters young and old enjoyed his victory party on election night in Oaks.

great deal. Th e last two presidential elections,
Trump’s win over Hillary Clinton in 2016 and
Biden’s victory over Trump in 2020, came down
to a few close states, including, and perhaps
especially, Pennsylvania. Biden beat Trump by
fewer than 100,000 votes in the Keystone State
in 2020; while Trump beat Clinton by about
44,000 in the commonwealth in 2016.

Th e Shapiro-Mastriano fi ght was about many
issues, including crime, the economy and a
woman’s right to choose to have an abortion.

But it was not an exaggeration to say that
the Democrat was pro-democracy while the
Republican was against it.

For that reason, even as the party at the Expo
Center started hours before CNN declared
Shapiro’s victory on Nov. 8, the attorney gen-
eral’s supporters in attendance were still a little
nervous. “I think it’ll probably be closer than we want it to
be,” said Jessica Rosenthal, 47, of Ambler.

Less than an hour aft er Rosenthal tempered her
expectations, CNN fl ashed an early count from the
PA governor’s race that showed Shapiro up by more
than 30 points. A few people around the Expo Center
cheered as they watched the TVs.

As the eight and then nine o’clock hours continued,
more results appeared on the screens. Around 9:30,
as people started walking over to the area in front of
the stage, an event staff member turned up the vol-
ume on the big screen to the left . CNN’s John King
was discussing Shapiro’s advantage, which remained
at about 30 points with almost a quarter of the vote
counted. Th e crowd clapped and hollered.

Over the next 45 minutes, votes continued to come
in, except Shapiro’s lead was now diminishing. It
dropped from around 30% to less than 20% to 11%.

One woman sent out a tweet congratulat-
ing Shapiro on beating an insurrectionist.

Philadelphia-area newspapers and television
stations started reporting the news of the local
man’s victory.

By the time CNN announced the result, it
was a formality. And when Shapiro walked out
on stage minutes later, with the crowd clapping,
cheering and holding up phones, he did not
even need to open his speech with some great
line ending in an exclamation point.

“I am so humbled to see all of you here
tonight,” he said, before thanking his wife Lori
Shapiro and pointing out their four children
Jonah, Sophia, Max and Reuben to the side of
the podium.

“I am proud to be a Pennsylvanian,” Shapiro
said later.

And then, for good measure, the Conservative
Jewish man who sits for Shabbat dinner with his
family each week paraphrased his favorite line from
the Talmud. Th e same one he spoke about during his
campaign kickoff speech at Penn State Abington in
October 2021.

“No one is required to complete the task, but nei-
ther are we free to refrain from it,” the governor-elect
said. Aft er Shapiro’s speech ended around midnight,
aft er he hugged his family members and waved to
supporters, and aft er he strolled off the stage, some
people walked out to their cars. Reporters hustled
back to their tables behind the TV camera riser to
fi le their stories. But the lights stayed on, the music
kept playing and a group of people started dancing
in front of the stage. JE
For the most part,
the hundreds of supporters
of Jewish Democrat
Josh Shapiro knew what
their result would
be on Nov. 8.

For a few minutes, it felt like the race might get close.

Shapiro’s supporters stood around, checked their
phones and watched the screens. Th e event staff and
campaign kept turning the party playlist on, off and
then back on to try to keep the party going.

But in the minds of many, there was never really
a doubt.

“From the projections now, it looks like he’s defi -
nitely going to win,” said Irfan Huda, 42, of Chalfont.

Mastriano never got closer than 11%. As the clock
struck 10 and the vote count crept into the 60% range,
tweets started going out from pollsters and media
outlets about how Shapiro had won. President Biden’s
White House Chief of Staff Ronald Klain, a prolifi c
liker of tweets that make the president look good,
liked a tweet from a political poll account that called
the race for Shapiro. (Biden and former President
Barack Obama headlined a rally with the Democratic
candidate at Temple University’s Liacouras Center on
Nov. 5.)
jsaff ren@midatlanticmedia.com
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